“We invest in natural intelligence to educate humans and manage Artificial Intelligence in the best way possible. Investing in intelligence always makes good business sense.”

With these words, Leonardo’s Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Roberto Cingolani, concluded his speech at ComoLake2023 – Next Generation Innovations, the digital expo conference held in Cernobbio (Italy). Speaking before an audience of managers, entrepreneurs and researchers engaged in innovation, Cingolani made a comparison between the human and the digital sphere, demonstrating how the two dimensions are becoming increasingly linked. “Generative intelligence copies us,” stated Cingolani. 

Looking at what is happening in the world of technological development, Leonardo's CEO explained that the collection, management and processing of data are key, “We need computing capacity, sufficient memory, and a structure that can transmit very quickly.” Otherwise, we run the risk of creating huge data bottlenecks. 

“Information that is important to citizens concerning health, finance and defence is critical and must be protected.” Roberto Cingolani then added, “As of yet, we don’t have anything that is conceived to be cyber-safe right from the design phase. We still buy a computer and then download the antivirus, or a phone and then install the appropriate software. The starting point is wrong. We need to design the objects of the future so that they are cyber-safe, or we’ll never be competitive. We need to introduce cybersecurity right from the beginning, whenever we design something new.” 

Cingolani ended his speech by comparing Artificial Intelligence with the human brain, which - he says - are much more similar than we might imagine. They both manage to perform more or less the same operations. The difference lies in the speed and use of resources, “Computers and mobile phones don’t work as well as we do as they are not the product of a billion-year evolution that has led to optimised power consumption. They are very fast, but the real problem is not their effectiveness, it is their energy consumption.” 

However, the main difference lies in the uniqueness of each human being, “Ours is a biochemical form of intelligence influenced predominantly by experience and mood. We are all different. When presented with a problem, we will all solve it in our own way, depending on what happened to us yesterday, whether we’ve had a row with our husband or wife, whether we are happy or depressed. This is our diversity.” Machines, on the other hand, are all about preordained numbers and behaviours, “Machines lack survival instinct and a sense of continuity of the species. Machines are not self-aware. They don't care if you switch them on or off. They have no concept of life and death. Hence, these are two species that can never fight each other.” The same reasoning can be applied to new forms of automation and Artificial Intelligence that will have to be guided and governed by natural intelligence.